Clouds

July 14
The evening was so gorgeous, that I decided to go for a walk up in the hill pastures. It was simply lovely. I went up past a crest in the hill, out of sight of all humanity, and spent quite a while just standing, looking up into the sky. Where the sun was going down, the sky was a gentle salmon color, and the leaves of the trees looked so graceful outlined against it.


There were ragged, clumpy clouds that would have looked sullen with their charcoal grey and edges and bottoms that were almost a light maroon. However, the sky above them was still smiling blue, with white and ivory cirrus clouds shimmering in graceful strands. The ragged clouds glided one way, with the smooth cirrus above them, so that it was hard to tell which was moving, or perhaps it was both, moving in opposite directions. The grey clouds almost looked like debris floating slowly down a stream that had a shining sandy bed.

I stood there a long time, thanking the Lord for bringing me here for the summer, and for giving me even just the enjoyment of this single evening. I told Him about the things on my mind, asked Him about the decisions I need to make, and just marveled at His beauty and the fact that, while He is infinitely more glorious than those clouds, He is also infinitely more near and concrete, as close as they looked just then. It was a good time to be completely alone with Him, away from the view of everyone, and kind of get re-calibrated. I’m finding that it’s a really good practice just to drop everything for a few minutes, several times a day, and just go to Him.